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There's a balancing act in protecting children from their poor decisions and keeping the rest of society safe. In 1996, Virginia's lawmakers, like those in many other states, looked at juvenile crime statistics and worried that a wave of youth violence was becoming a tsunami. And like lawmakers in many states, Virginia's overreacted.
They made significant changes to the state's criminal code that eroded judges' authority to decide whether teenagers go through the juvenile justice system or the adult system. They gave prosecutors the power to determine, early in the process and without considering information beyond the juvenile's age and the charge, whether a young person went to a system focusing on rehabilitation or one concentrating on punishment.
The result, a new study shows, is a system that ultimately makes society less safe, leaves too many teens with criminal convictions that will ruin their lives and puts too many teens in adult jails or prisons with no chance at education, counseling, job training or classes that could help them escape a life of crime.
The study by a children's law group raises serious questions about the 1996 tough-on-crime law:
Is it right that 20 percent of the teenagers determined by prosecutors to be the worst of the worst, too dangerous for the juvenile justice system, get probation when they're sent to adult court?
Does it make sense that Virginia's judges don't have the power to decide whether teenagers are mature enough to be treated as adults when they commit a crime - but teens who want to get married or enjoy the civil rights of an adult must have a judge determine they're mature enough?
The study by JustChildren, an arm of the Legal Aid Justice Center, found that nearly 700 youths a year are convicted in adult court in Virginia. Perhaps the most disturbing statistic is that those sent to adult court are 34 percent more likely to commit another crime than those in the juvenile system.
"The system we built to respond to the wave - one which made it easier to try children as adults without any requirement of judicial review or background investigation - is now ensnaring some youth who appear to be inappropriate candidates for adult convictions and... confinement," the study said. That "does not promote public safety, but harms youth, limits rehabilitation and increases recidivism."
Nobody is suggesting that a teenager who beats someone to a pulp should be slapped on the wrist and set free. And nobody is suggesting that every prosecutor abuses his power and indiscriminately tries kids in adult court.
In the case of the plot to blow up Landstown High School in April, for example, Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant charged as an adult the 17-year-old he considers the mastermind; he sent the two accomplices, both 16, to juvenile court.
The study, expected to be discussed next month when the Virginia State Crime Commission takes up juvenile justice laws, suggests amendments, not an overhaul.
Juvenile justice professionals, except prosecutors, support returning the decisionmaking to impartial judges and ensuring that they are trained in juvenile justice issues.
Some young criminals deserve to be in prison. But many need the rehabilitation that is the mission of the Department of Juvenile Justice - schooling, counseling, work experience, goal-setting - to keep from becoming another statistic and creating more victims.
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my thought
My thought is the people posting most this stuff must be in la la land and is living in a perfect world, no family problems and everything goes just the way they want it, perfect! The things kids get put in prison now days for, used to be a spanking or something to that nature. You learned from your mistakes quick, no prison for 10 years to life for minor things you do when your a child, which is Anything under 18 years old. Come on people wake up! This is our children we are talking about, This is our future, and theirs!
Youth Deserves chances by Adult Leaders
Teenagers are children, they make bad decisions, they skip school, the experiment with different things. Until grown adults start lighting the load by stopping the lock up of juveniles, we need to think twice about the stiff hard penalties we are making children suffer with adult consequences, its very sad that us adults allow this, we need to treat children and children and not fully grown mental adults. We need to be about second chances, it is such a thing as being smart on crime at the same time without being so hard. We need to go back to when we helped each other, building people, not prisons, its not a handout, its a hand up to set the example of being the adult that raises that child with the child knowing we all make mistakes, bad choices, to live, learn, and not do it again. Evidently some of you all haven't realized we are hurting families, we are hurting children, we need to lighten up on the laws in place cause it has back fired in our face, we need youth to know they have help, not hurt for bad choices.
Youth Deserves Chances by Adults leaders
We need to treat children and children and not fully grown mental adults. We need to be about second chances, it is such a thing as being smart on crime at the same time without being so hard. We need to go back to when we helped each other, building people, not prisons, its not a handout, its a hand up to set the example of being the adult that raises that child with the child knowing we all make mistakes, bad choices, to live, learn, and not do it again. Evidently some of you all haven't realized we are hurting families, we are hurting children, we need to lighten up on the laws in place cause it has back fired in our face, we need youth to know they have help, not hurt for bad choices.
Youths Deserves Chances with adults being leaders
For you people that are not the lest bit concerned about VA locking up our youth, you yourselves need locked up for not caring enough. Evidently you have not cared enough about your own child/ren and/or other children or our youth in VA and the US. Number one, I am a grandmother today, I have raised my children and have grandchildren that come see me. I was a thug, a hoodlum, gangster, robber, etc, which ever word you want to use for the day, when I was young. I basically raised myself, my grandparents raised me cause I had no choice of my parents walking out, dropping me off a the door stoup. Now VA gave me a chance, along with people that did care, it wasn't easy, I made mistakes, I drank, I used drugs, yet we did not have all these stiff throw away on a juvenile laws therefore I over come all odds and I made it without being a hard core criminal. Let me say that is why parents have choices to also take classes to learn and understand youth, adolescent behavior to help guide their children, grandchildren because all our youth have problems yet let the poor teenager make a bad choice, they get thrown in prison, labeled for life yet 9 times out of 10 if you got the money and resour
Hold the Parents Responsible?
To hold the parents responsible, you have to find them first. A typical father is already in prison. A typical mother is a chronically unemployed drug addict and alcoholic who lost custody when the child was a toddler, who lives in one flop house after another. Many of these kids are bounced from one grandmother to the other, including the paternal grandmother who is the mother of the guy in prison and the maternal grandmother who is the mother of the alcoholic. Some of these kids have successively been in the custody of five or more female relatives as their guardians. Most of these kids figure out by age ten, before their first crime, that they are forever going to be social outcasts.
To editorial staff:
Judges are not the be all end all in this. A judge being a judge doesn't mean they have a monopoly on the wisdom involving kids. Prosecutors can just as easily serve such a purpose in deciding the fate of known criminals (recall the kids DID a crime). The statistics showed a wave of increased youth violence; if judges had the power to decide which courts were appropriate for juveniles that didn't mean the crimes in question would have gone down in return. The balance of societal justice should sway in the side of protecting society from criminal individuals, not protecting criminal individuals from themselves. Poor decisions have consequences, thats why I am spending my time commenting politically, as opposed to knocking over a convience store or beating up a classmate.
Makes Society LESS Safe? (More Pilot Spin)
Once again the Virginian Pilot Editorial Staff comes riding to the defense of the Criminals. How in the world do these laws made in response to the VIOLENT CRIMES commited by 16,17, and nearly 18 year olds,(not Children), make us "less safe"? Keeping these young thugs off the streets is the "most safe" thing we can do. Giving them the opportunity to commit many, many multiple violent crimes does not make society safer.
teen crime needs,
Teen criminals need to have their parents thrown in jail.
Hold parents more accountable
A agree that one size fits all is not the way to handle juenille law breakers. However, since much of the reason that the teenagers are the way they are is due to poor upbringing can't we somehow hold the parents accountable as well.